Flipside (Super Paper Mario)

They came out of the door and looked around. "We're back." Tippi said. "Let's go to Merlon's." She said as they nodded and went in the elevator.

As they got out of the elevator, they walked straight to Merlon's house who was busy reading a book. "Hey Merlon, we're back." Tippi told him.

"Oh! Good to see you back here safe and sound." Merlon greeted. "So, how was your journey?"

One explanation later...

"Hmm..." Merlon had his arms folded. "This is most troubling...it seems Count Bleck and his minions have gotten wind of your attempts to gather the Pure Hearts. We must exercise caution if we are to get the seven Pure Hearts and defeat Count Bleck."

"He's right." Lightning said. "We may have had trouble with that O'Chunks character...but that doesn't mean we can't let our guard down."

"You are absolutely right." Merlon said. "But we do not know their motives besides destroying the world. For now, you must put the Pure Heart in the pillar to get to the next world."

"Right." Sora nodded.

"I know where the pillar is." Tippi said. "Follow me." She said, but then they heard knocking.

"Come in!" Merlon said as a young boy came in. "Oh, hello young lad...what seems to be the problem?"

"Well, I was just minding my own business when these two beautiful ladies suddenly fell from the sky!" He exclaimed.

"What?!" Merlon exclaimed. "Take me to them!" He ordered as the boy ran off while Merlon followed him, as the trio looked at each other before heading off to see what was going on...and when they got to their destination, their eyes widened. The boy who mentioned the two beautiful ladies were none other than Peach and Kairi!

"KAIRI!" Sora exclaimed as he ran over to her as Mario went to check on Peach as Lightning was checking on the both of them.

"Hmm, they seem to be stable..." Merlon muttered. "...But unconscious. We need something to get them back on their feet."

"This usually helps." Sora said, summoning the Ultima. "THUN-" Lightning tackled him to the ground. "OOOF!"

"Are you TRYING to kill them?! Thundaga won't help a bit!" She scolded.

"Well...it works on Riku..." Sora muttered.

"I recall seeing a kitchen before we got here." Mario said. "Maybe some food can get them back on their feet."

"Excellent theory, Mario." Merlon said. "We'll stay here until you come back."

"Alright." Mario nodded as the trio took off.

A few minutes later...

Merlon noticed the trio coming back with a Shroom Shake and...pizza? "What's with the pizza?" He asked.

"Kairi loves pizza." Sora smiled.

"Ah." He nodded as Mario opened Peach's mouth and forced it down her throat while the smell of the pepperoni went into Kairi's nose.

"Mmm..." Kairi stirred in her unconsciousness. "...Pepperoni...?" She asked as she got up and saw it, and then spotted Sora. "Sora!" She exclaimed as she hugged him and pecked him on the cheek.

"That tasted sweet." Peach said as she woke up and spotted Mario. "Mario!" She exclaimed and basically pulled him in to kiss him on the lips, which left Lightning in an awkward position.

I think I need a boy or something... Lightning thought. To be completely honest, she had her eyes on Riku for a while before realizing he was dating Xion, so she tried to go for Lea...but it turns out that he was dating a girl in Radiant Garden...someone named Yuffie. This just feels awkward... She thought.

Back at Merlon's house...

"That explains everything..." Kairi muttered.

"So...it seems we were just pawns for Count Bleck's game." Peach said and then sighed. "That's just insane."

"Indeed it is, my dear princess." Merlon said. "However, we must gather the remaining heroes if we are to put a stop to this once and for all."

"How many are there?" Mario asked.

"According to the light Prognosticus, it said that the heroes are a man with red clothing, a princess dressed in pink, a gigantic monster, a hero of the worlds, a princess of heart, a boy who was once lost to darkness...and a man dressed in a green tunic." He said from memory.

When "green tunic" was mentioned, Mario raised an eyebrow. Is it talking about Link? He wondered.

"We don't have much time...find them and the Pure Hearts." He ordered as they nodded. "And when you get to the next world...find a woman named Merlee. She'll know where the Pure Heart is at." He said.

"Got it." Mario nodded.

One heart pillar found later...

"That Pure Heart sure is pretty." Kairi said.

"Yeah...I can probably stare at it for hours." Peach said. "But sadly, we got worlds to save." She said as they made their way to the second door as they looked at each other.

"Ready?" Mario asked.

"Ready." Kairi nodded as they walked into the doors.

World 2-1: Onward to Merlee's Mansion!

Gloam Valley (Super Paper Mario)

They entered the world before them, as the door disappeared behind them. "Did that door just disappear on us?" Peach asked.

"It did." Mario nodded. "There's not much to worry about. We'll head back when we get the Pure Heart." He said.

"Yeah." Lightning said as Tippi flew around.

"The Pure Heart is close." She said. "Come on, let's go."

As they kept walking, Mario, Peach, Sora and Kairi were chatting things up and catching up leaving poor Lightning all by herself. Of course, she could summon someone like Hope or Vanille or someone else to keep her company, but she didn't feel like doing it as Thoreau glanced at her. "You feeling alright?" He asked.

"Uh...sorta." She replied. "I feel kinda awkward now that the boys found their loved ones."

"Ah, I got ya." Thoreau nodded. "But don't worry, I'm sure things will get back to normal after they're done catching up...I think." He said as Lightning nodded as they kept walking while talking out any Spiky Goomba or Koopa in the way as they unlocked a door and kept going.

Lightning saw Kairi and Peach laughing while Mario and Sora made a chuckle here and there. Man, I wish I could talk to someone. She thought as she looked at Thoreau and Tippi who were also in a conversation with the others. The thought of summoning one of her friends sounded like a good idea until Mario mentioned the words "Smash Bros" to Sora and Kairi, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Whoa..." Sora said. "That sounds pretty fun."

"Yeah, it IS fun...and a lot chaotic." Mario said. Especially when you have someone like Captain Falcon.

"I miss Zelda..." Peach said, thinking about her other friends. "We used to have a fun time while the tournament was still going on."

"What caused the tournament to end?" Lightning asked.

"Oh, it ends when Master Hand decides enough is enough and declares it to come to an end and announce the winner of who won the most matches." Peach said. "I can't believe that little monkey won that thing..." She muttered, bitterness in her voice.

"You were hoping someone else to win?" Mario asked.

"Yes, someone like Meta Knight, Falcon, Little Mac...heck, even Mega Man. But noooo...that stupid Diddy Kong had to win all the matches."

"I have to admit...he did get stronger since the Brawl tournament." Mario admitted.

Even when Lightning asked that question about Smash Bros, the four of them kept talking to each other leaving her in the dirt. Before Peach and Kairi came, they were all talking to each other...but now that two Princesses joined the group? It was like she was invisible. Now I know how Luigi feels... She thought.

Then again, she was considered a loner...even when she was in Glitzville, she hardly talked to anyone until Mario and the others came into her life. Ever since then, she was never the same. She missed talking to people like Vivian, Flurrie or even the Yoshi kid. Where are you guys? She wondered.

She was so deep in thought, she hadn't noticed Peach or Kairi was confronted by a weirdo that was deeply in love with them...she just kept walking...not even noticing she walked passed them. "Uh..." Tippi noticed Lightning. Where is she going? She thought.

"Wait, so Merlee has a mansion?" Sora asked after talking some sense into the perverted weirdo.

The weirdo paid no attention to him as he was more interested in the ladies...however, Kairi had enough and used Thundaga on him, making him yell in pain before hitting the ground. "Thank you...I was about to hit him with my golf club." Peach muttered.

Back with Lightning, she was still deep in thought that she bumped into a warp pipe to snap her back to attention. "Huh, what?" She wondered as she hopped inside to see what was in there.

"Has anyone seen Lightning?" Mario asked as they walked near the warp pipe.

"Haven't seen her." Sora shrugged as they spotted the warp pipe...as they heard a scream yelling "FREEDOM!" and another scream sounding female. "Was that Lightning?"

"She sounds like she's in trouble!" Kairi exclaimed as they hopped into the warp pipe.

Strange Company (Super Paper Mario)

"WOOHOO! I AM OUT OF THERE!" A bomb pixl yelled as Lightning's scream was more like a yelp in surprise.

"What the heck?!" Lightning exclaimed.

"Oh, you saved me! And for that...I thank you." He said as they noticed the others coming out of the warp pipe.

"What the...?" Mario looked at it.

"I'm Boomer!" The pixl replied.

"You're a Pixl as well?" Tippi asked.

"Well duh!" Boomer chuckled. "Now uh...before we get going...I got some questions to ask."

Several bizarre questions later...

"That...was so..." Kairi blinked, looking for a word.

"Random?" Peach asked.

"That's the one I was looking for." Kairi said.

"Alright, you guys are cool. Let's get the heck out of here!" Boomer exclaimed as they got out of the warp pipe.

Gloam Valley

The remainder of the trek to the mansion was pretty uneventful, even destroying a few enemies wasn't that bad. Thoreau was getting reacquainted with Boomer as the others kept on talking...and poor ol' Lightning was at the short end of the stick.

This is kinda boring... Lightning thought.

"Hey, is that a mansion up ahead?" Sora asked.

"It is." Mario replied. "Merlee's Mansion."

"Let's go!" Kairi exclaimed as they took off to the mansion, with Lightning right behind them.
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Poor Lightning... she's quite lonely.

Sorry for the wait... my good friend requested to do a collab with him that is called "The Battle of Four Armies" But here's the next chapter!

Now hopefully, I won't be having any more distractions...